


You're A Snack, But You're Much More Than That

by strangeallure



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Awkward Romance, Dinner, F/M, Long Live Feedback Comment Project, Movie Night, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-27 18:53:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17772341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangeallure/pseuds/strangeallure
Summary: Venom likes how Eddie feels when he thinks about Anne Weying. They like how Eddie feels when he's close to Anne Weying even more. If Eddie won't start wooing her himself, Venom will just have to push him a little.





	You're A Snack, But You're Much More Than That

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this for Frangipani, but only finished because cupidbow's Venom Valentine's Day challenge gave me a deadline. ♥ ♥

“Do we really have to watch another romantic comedy?” Eddie’s voice sounds much more put-upon than his endocrine system would suggest, and Venom wonders why he won’t just admit that he likes those movies, too. Venom is bound to Eddie on a deep biological level: whatever Eddie feels, Venom feels, too. It would be logical to just accept that he can’t lie to Venom.

But Venom is starting to learn that the truth doesn’t always matter when human behavior is involved. They suspect that some part of Eddie knows that there’s nothing he can hide from Venom, but for some reason, he prefers to act like he doesn’t.

The few times Venom tried to bring up the fact, phrases like _plausible deniability_ and _ignorance is bliss_ popped into Eddie’s head, so Venom decided not to actively mention the concepts of shared thoughts and mind reading anymore.

Venom still doesn’t fully get humans, but they do start to get Eddie, more and more.

Eddie is funny and lazy and has that belly laugh that makes Venom’s tendrils tingle, and sometimes, he lets Venom eat people, which Venom appreciates.

Only bad people, but still. Venom has been on earth long enough to know that’s at least frowned upon, so it seems like Eddie indulges them with that, and it makes Venom feel special.

Everyone wants to feel special, that’s one of the lessons Venom has learned from those romantic comedies.

So instead of calling Eddie out on how he always pretends to be busy with his phone while in reality he’s following the storylines of _Grey’s Anatomy_ reruns on TV, Venom gives him another explanation that doesn’t conflict with the image Eddie wants to project. Good thing Eddie still hasn’t figured out how to read Venom’s thoughts.

“You don’t want me to eat people,” Venom starts because it’s the truth and still an occasional point of contention. “I think it would help me control my hunger if I developed more positive emotions for people who aren’t you.” It’s a good reason and they sense a certain give in Eddie, although they’re not sure how accurate the argument is. Venom’s emotions towards tater tots are entirely positive, and yet they want to devour freezers-full of the stuff. On the other hand, there’s Eddie. They like him a lot, and the more Venom likes him, the less they want to eat him.

“Basically, I want to establish a connection with _your_ fellow man.” Venom is very proud of that phrase. They picked it up when Eddie wrote one of his social justice articles that he usually has to publish for a pittance because no one will pay him full rate.

Eddie rolls his eyes, the sensation not unlike when he burps. Venom is always a little surprised by how much they enjoy feeling those little movements from the inside of a human body.

“Okay,” Eddie agrees, “but I get to pick the movie this time.”

He settles back against the couch and takes the remote, scrolling through the “romantic comedy” category on Netflix. When Eddie happens upon a movie called _When Harry Met Sally_ , there’s a jolt of recognition mixed with anticipation in his brain chemistry, which is quite pleasant.

Soon they’re half-way through the movie, and Venom can tell how much Eddie likes it by all the additional information he provides, like a running commentary that pauses just in times for the good bits.

Sometimes, the movie seems to trigger a soft sweep in his system of something almost like sadness, and when Eddie says, with a kind of excitement that’s edged with darker emotions, “They filmed that right around the corner from my grandma’s place,” Venom thinks that might be what homesickness feels like.

Eddie has never mentioned his grandmother before. He rarely talks – or thinks – about his family. Come to think of it, he doesn’t seem to have many friends either. Lots of acquaintances, sure, like the lady from the Seven-Eleven, former colleagues and bosses and sources, but that warmth, that depth of feeling, that’s almost exclusive to how he feels about Anne. And his grandma, apparently.

It’s hard to parse emotional possibilities, but Venom likes to think that sometimes, when they make Eddie laugh or when Eddie gets them chocolate cake even though it’s the end of the month and money is tight, they can sense the seed of that feeling from Eddie towards Venom themselves.

So even if Eddie won’t outright admit it, they’re pretty sure that Eddie likes them and their relationship. Otherwise, he could just get rid of Venom. Eddie knows how, Venom themselves told him the exact frequency band that would kill them. They’re sure that Eddie remembers. They’re inside Eddie’s head, after all.

And Eddie’s head, it turns out, is full of Anne Weying. Not just when Sally snaps at Harry on-screen or when Harry screws up everything, but all the time.

The thoughts about Anne always hurt a little, but they feel good, too. Warm in a way that’s soothing and exciting, making Venom forget that they haven’t eaten anyone in a while. And even the mixed-in sadness is nice, like that Cajun seasoning Eddie dumps over their tater tots sometimes. Or when Venom eats a drug user soon after their last hit, and there’s that bubbly sting and tingle.

So Venom wants more Anne Weying in their life, which is why they concocted this whole “romance and caring about people” scheme.

They’d like for Eddie to think more of her and ultimately see more of her because the feelings – good and bad – are especially strong when she’s around, when Eddie could touch her, even if he doesn’t. Venom might enjoy touching her, too, but they want to be smart about it.

Venom could overpower Eddie once, of course, touch Anne with their tendrils and wrap her in their own black ooze. It would be gratifying, they know from experience, from that one time at the Life Foundation, when Anne let them take over her body to save Eddie. Everything about that was pleasurable, but Venom liked the part best where she was willing, where she pleaded for them to take over her body. They had never felt wanted like that before, valued.

Anne’s a good host, almost as good as Eddie. Her body is lithe but strong, and her mind is stronger. Hosts need smarts and resilience. They don’t need to be good people, but Eddie and Anne made Venom realize that they like their hosts to have some good in them, too. Good but flawed people with skeletons in their closets, but with enough space in their hearts to leave room for Venom to fill.

The movie has ended, but Eddie lets the credits roll, enjoying the weird music – nothing he would normally listen to, Venom’s sure – as his mind drifts in and out of scenes from the movie and quick flashes of memory, some of New York City, more of Anne. In his mind, Eddie tends to call her Annie, and Venom likes the little spike in hormones when he does.

It’s too bad that Venom can only read Eddie’s thoughts, not his memories. If they could, Venom would simply submerge themselves in the pond of Anne Weying memories that must reside inside Eddie’s head. They’re plentiful, Venom knows, big things and small things and everything in between. When something brings those memories up in Eddie, every emotion, every sense impression is sharper, more immediate. A more direct stimulus to Venom’s neural pathways that reminds them of what home felt like.

They were a loser, sure, but not everything about home had been bad. The colors were darker, deeper, more _there_ , everything resonating more deeply. And the closest Venom gets to that same feeling, that same depth of experience here on earth is when Eddie engages with Anne.

So after they’ve watched a few more romantic comedies – and a lot more _Grey’s Anatomy_ –, Venom tries to make their apartment more romance-friendly.

They have to tread lightly, however, so they won’t scare off Eddie.

Venom knows that Eddie wants Anne back, that he loves her and wants to fuck her in any and all ways possible. Although some of his dreams and phantasies seem highly impractical, given what Venom knows of human anatomy. On the other hand, with a symbiote involved to bend bones and carry additional weight, basically no position would be impossible. It’s a pleasant thought.

They nag Eddie into a new couch with some pillows and a vase with flowers – plastic, of course, so they will last forever – and a small dining table with two chairs. Eddie resists at first, but when they get plastic cards with free money on them in the mail, he finally gives in.

And then, very slyly, they tell Eddie to invite Anne for dinner.

“No,” Eddie says, even though part of him wants to, Venom can feel it. “That’s not how this works.”

Eddie’s wearing a tank top today, so Venom can simply push a part of themselves out of Eddie’s shoulder and forms it into their head. Some conversations are best had face-to-face.

“But you get coffee with her all the time.”

“No, I’m not.” Eddie’s voice is firm.

“Yes, you do,” Venom hisses, and since _Grey’s Anatomy_ has taught them a lot about the concept of _guilt tripping_ , they add, “and she almost always pays.”

“What?” Eddie is taken aback. Good.

“Just ask her,” Venom insists. “Tell her you want to return the favor.”

“She broke up with me because I betrayed her trust.”

“I was bonded with her, Eddie." Venom speaks fast and forceful. "She still likes you.” Venom can feel that he wants to give in, so why won’t he just save both of them some time and do it?

“I’m not gonna do it.” Eddie shakes his head, more vehemently than Venom would like.

“But you have to,” it comes out as a bellow. Venom doesn’t mean for some of their ooze to fly from their mouth and hit Eddie in the face, but Eddie deserves it when it happens.

Eddie wipes his cheek with the palm of his hand, the motion more or less automated at this point. “Why?”

Venom has to think fast. “Because I’m bored.”

Eddie does that tingly eye roll thing again. “What?”

Venom has got to lean into it, so they do: “You never go anywhere, and even when you do, you’re always anxious about me.”

“What?” Eddie’s eyebrows knit together like he doesn’t know what Venom’s talking about, but his body chemistry tells them that he feels caught out. “That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is.” Venom’s too pleased that they have hit some kind of nerve to let this go now. “But Anne, she knows about me. You can be more relaxed.”

Eddie sticks his finger in Venom’s face like he wants to say _gotcha_. “She thinks you died.”

“We both know that’s not true,” Venom huffs. “It’s just what both of you pretend, so you don’t have to talk about it.”

It’s surprisingly delicious what happens in Eddie’s system when he feels caught red-handed. Venom files the knowledge away for future reference, but right now, they have to stay focused, reel in their catch, so to speak.  

It takes longer than Venom had hoped to persuade Eddie, but thankfully Venom honed their persuasion skills on the acquisition of furniture and decorative items.

\--

A few days later, Anne Weying is sitting at their new table, decorated with their new flowers, and eats from the casserole Eddie made almost from scratch.

“I can’t believe you have plastic flowers now,” she says, tapping one fingernail against the pink vase, obviously pleased with Venom’s décor.

Eddie makes a sound that means nothing, scratching his neck and tilting his head in that way that makes a delicious tingle scurry along Venom’s pathways.

Anne’s smile becomes softer. “I’ve always loved your grandma’s casserole,” she says.

“I’m glad.” There’s a warm surge of pride mixed with uncharacteristic humility in Eddie’s body, and Venom has to keep in a groan, that’s how new and pleasant the feeling is.

This was such a perfect idea.

After a while, they move to the new couch – Venom insisted on this very model because it’s called a _love seat_ , which seems to mean that it’s so small it forces people to sit close together – to watch a movie.

“So which city do you want to see blown up this time?” Anne asks, grinning, as she takes the remote and turns on the TV.

The screen flicks to life and the list of recently watched movies pops up. Anne’s eyes grow wide and the grin on her face turns knowing.

“Eddie,” she says, “whose Netflix are you stealing?”

“Actually,” Eddie cocks his head again and his cheeks heat in a pleasant way, “that’s all me.”

Anne raises both eyebrows.

Eddie lets himself fall into the corner of the sofa, surprisingly – and disappointingly – far from Anne.

“It’s winter, it’s dreary outside. Plus,” he grins, and even from the inside, Venom can feel his eyes shine, “some of those are classics.”

“Is that so?” Venom recognizes the tone in her voice as flirty and they’re heartened by it.

“Indeed,” Eddie insists.

Anne clicks a few buttons on the remote.

“Does _Groundhog Day_ count as a classic, too?” she asks. “I think I’d be in the mood for that.”

When Eddie nods, she starts the movie and adjusts one of the two pillows behind her back, making herself more comfortable. “I haven’t watched that one since college.”

There’s a memory exploding in Eddie’s brain, quick but so vivid that it makes Venom lose control of his tendrils for a second, several of them shooting out from the base of Eddie’s spine before Venoms gets a hold of them. They’re glad to have Eddie’s body shielding the incident from view.

The memory is of Anne and Eddie, cuddled up on a dingy futon, watching that movie on a laptop screen. They’re both naked, wrapped in crumpled bed sheets and eating cold slices of pizza with congealed cheese on them. It’s maybe the most contented, effortlessly happy sensation Venom has ever felt from Eddie.

Eddie smiles at Anne with that soft edge of hurt and longing that, out of solidarity with his host, Venom should probably enjoy less than they do. “Me either,” he says.

The movie is one of the best Venom has seen. The guy is a joy, always insulting people and getting away with it – apart from the part where he’s trapped in a time loop –, and a little rodent driving a car to certain death will never not be hilarious to Venom.

Their impulse to laugh takes them by surprise a few times, so that Venom’s cackle reverberates with Eddie’s loud laughs, but they don’t think it’s too noticeable.

What they do note, however, is how Eddie and Anne shift closer together, until Eddie’s arm is lying across the back of the love seat, and Anne is so close she’s almost touching the side of his body. She must be drawn in by the pheromones emanating from Eddie’s armpits. They are certainly powerful and very appealing.

Suddenly, Anne giggles softly, although there’s nothing funny going on on-screen for once.

“Eddie,” she says in a fond voice, turning towards him and Venom, “I’m not sure we should-“

Her hand goes up to her waist and gives a gentle push, more of a squeeze, really, and Venom feels it, but Eddie doesn’t seem to, which is strange, and then it hits them-

“Uh-oh,” Venom says through Eddie’s mouth, taken completely off-guard. They quickly pull away the big fat tentacle they accidentally snaked around Anne’s waist.

With improbable calm, Anne pauses the movie, puts the remote on the table, and turns around in her seat.

Eddie is embarrassed, but he also seems to take her calm as a good, if ominous, sign. Apparently, he would have expected much worse.

“What is going on here?” Anne’s voice is very controlled, enunciating each word without giving anything away. Venom wishes they could slip her a tendril or two to find out what she’s feeling.

“Anne, I’m so sorry.” Eddie’s voice sounds out of breath even though the three of them have been sitting here for almost an hour. “It was Venom. I wasn’t. I mean, I wouldn’t-“ Eddie stumbles over his words, making a fool out of himself. It’s embarrassing in a way that’s mostly unpleasant for Venom, even if they do like a bit of contrast in Eddie’s emotions.

“You wouldn’t what?” Anne asks pointedly. “Ask me out? Give me a hug? Hit on me?”

“I-uh.” Eddie’s mind is blank.

“Yes?” he finally says. It’s pitiful. Clearly, he needs Venom to sort this out.

Eddie's wearing a nice shirt for once, and Venom doesn't want to ruin it, so they pop a mass of ooze out of the side of Eddie’s neck and transform it into their face.

“Eddie still likes you, Anne Weying,” Venom explains in a deep, hurried hiss. “But he was afraid that he’s hurt you too much.”

Eddie’s gaze darts from Venom’s head to Anne and back to Venom, the horror on his features mirroring what’s happening inside of him on a biochemical level. “Shut up,” he almost spits the words in Venom’s face.

Venom stares him down and bares their impressive rows of teeth.

“I’m talking now,” they hiss, “let me make this right.”

“Yes, Eddie,” Anne comes to their aid. “I would really like to hear what your purportedly dead symbiote friend has to say about this.”

Venom is obviously right to like her.

Eddie closes his eyes for a long moment and shakes his head in defeat.

“When Eddie’s happy, I’m happy,” Venom tells Anne. He’s lucky that what romantic media taught him would most likely work also happens to be the truth. “And he’s happiest when he’s with you.”

There’s a twitch in Anne’s features and Venom would kill somebody to find out what it means.

Then again, they’d always kill somebody, no matter what.

“I like the endocrine cocktail in Eddie’s system whenever you’re around,” Venom explains. “It’s delicious.”

Anne cocks her head. “But can’t you get that from porn?”

Eddie sputters besides Venom, but they pay him no mind.

“No,” Venom shakes his head emphatically, a bit of slime hitting both Eddie and Anne.

She doesn’t seem disgusted, which they take as a good sign.

“Porn is just a quick spike. It’s like,” they try to find a metaphor that might mean something to Anne Weying. “Like a single piece of chocolate cake.” Venom conjures up a hand through the buttons of Eddie’s shirt, just so they can raise a triumphant finger. “It’s good, but it doesn’t last long and it’s only one flavor.”

Eddie tries to interrupt, and Venom’s newly-formed palm also comes in handy to shut him up.

There’s another twitch around Anne’s mouth, and Venom is almost sure it’s a smile wanting to form. They know how that feels from inside Eddie’s face.

“But with you, it’s like having a huge bag of tater tots with different seasonings and dipping sauce,” just the picture they themselves draw with their words makes Venom’s mouth water. “And in between servings, there is chocolate cake, too.” That’s a good metaphor, they’re proud of it. “One of those variety trays,” they add to strengthen their point. “It’s much better.”

Anne Weying gives into the emotion pulling at the corner at her mouth and starts laughing, a soft, barely audible chuckle, but the way she tilts her head and strokes a strand of hair behind her ear reminds Venom of several of Eddie’s favorite memories.

“Okay,” she says, the warmth in her voice making something in Eddie’s nerve endings tingle, “So porn is a snack, but I’m a whole buffet?”

Eddie spreads his hand and puts it over his face, even as he shakes his head. Venom likes the way his cheeks heat up and the spike of embarrassment that crackles where their nervous systems are joined.

“Exactly,” Venom says enthusiastically. “You’re smarter than Eddie.” Credit where it’s due. “That’s something else I like about you.”

Anne bites down on her lower lip and it draws both Eddie’s and Venom’s attention to her mouth.

“So you’re proposing a threesome between me, my ex-boyfriend and his alien symbiote?”

Her words conjure a flash of an image in Eddie’s mind, but it’s gone too fast for Venom to properly process. Even as Eddie’s dick gives an interested twitch, he calls out the word “No.”

His voice is too loud, almost a shout, but it can’t drown out Venom’s emphatic “Yes, exactly.”

“No,” Eddie doubles down with a stern look. The changing tension in his muscles and the determination in his thoughts make clear how much he means it.

Venom relents. They sense that this is a special kind of serious, that Eddie has to handle the situation on his own, so they pull all their tendrils and ooze back into Eddie’s body and burrow down against his spleen, waiting out the storm.

Anne Weying-induced feelings are delectable. It really was worth a shot.

Anne’s next words take both Eddie and Venom completely by surprise.

“That’s too bad,” she says and gets up, throwing a nonchalant look over her shoulder.

Eddie’s mouth turns dry. 

“It is?” His voice is low, almost a stammer.

Anne takes two steps away from them.

“Do you still think about that kiss in the woods sometimes?” she asks casually.

Eddie tries to swallow, but before he can say anything, Anne adds, “Because I do.”

She takes another two steps and stretches out her hand to turn the knob on the bedroom door.

Eddie’s eyes widen and very tasty hope blooms in his chest.

Anne gives them what Eddie thinks of as a _come-hither_ look and pushes the door open.

Eddie scrambles up and rushes towards her, his whole nervous system responding, focusing only on Anne.

For some reason Venom doesn’t fully understand, Eddie doesn’t dive in to kiss her, devour her with his mouth (figuratively speaking, of course), but stands very close, almost touching. His heart pounds wildly and his endocrine system is in absolutely overdrive. Venom has to suppress a groan, that’s how good it feels.

Anne Weying puts her hands on Eddie’s hips and pushes her body into his.

“Come here,” she murmurs against Eddie’s lips and kisses him, slow at first, but then deep and deeper, until Venom can’t help their tendrils snaking towards her, swirling around her neck and her waist. They want to breach her skin, bond with her nervous system to taste her pleasure, share it with Eddie, but they refrain. For now.

Finally, Anne pulls Eddie’s head away from hers with her hands, keeping him close.

“I missed you,” she says fondly, and then one of her hands leaves Eddie’s jaw to touch at her own neck, and she strokes Venom’s tendrils there, caresses them with her nimble fingers.

“And I missed you, too,” she says, her voice deeper, huskier.

Venom can’t even tell if it’s their own arousal or Eddie’s that makes both of them moan.

With a shrewd smile, Anne Weying pulls her shirt over her head and sits down on the bed, reclining, her red lacy bra a burst of color against the pale blue sheets.

“Come on, guys,” she purrs, “show me what you’ve got.”

**Author's Note:**

> Like all my stories, this is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), whose goal is to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites:
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